YNT-eligible MLS players: 2018/19 offseason thread

Discussion in 'Youth National Teams' started by ussoccer97531, Nov 21, 2018.

  1. LouisZ

    LouisZ Member+

    Oct 14, 2010
    Southern California-USA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have seen NYCFC's Sands for two games and I don't think he is as good as Matt Real and I don't think Real is good enough for the U20. Sands better than Servania? maybe in an altered world.
     
  2. thedukeofsoccer

    thedukeofsoccer Member+

    Jul 11, 2004
    Wussconsin
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I am aware. This was a more competitive match, against older players, and another sample. If they already have an inflexible opinion that's unwise.
     
  3. Luksarus

    Luksarus Member

    United States
    Jul 27, 2018
    Edwin Cerrillo played a very good game, in my opinion, he had some incorrect passes, but many times he made very good decisions and showed himself as the lynchpin of the team along with Servania, I find it strange that he has never received a call for the national team, but it is also understandable since there are many players in their position.
     
  4. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    #679 butters59, Feb 9, 2019
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2019
    Some moron just elbowed AOC in the head and the kid got subbed out two minutes after been subbed in. 100% intentional, got the red in the "friendly" game.
     
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  5. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    Some hack named Struna.

    He should be suspended as long as Ocampo-Chavez is injured. This guy didn't even try to shield the ball out. He decided it was better to knock out the player who was chasing after the ball.

    Can someone gif this? @ShaftBrewer 63:05 into the match. This player deserves public shaming. That is assault, not a challenge.

     
    USSoccerNova repped this.
  6. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    I think you might've seen a couple of bad games then. I'm certainly no big fan of Real, but I don't think its even close. Sands is way better, IMO. They also play different positions.
     
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  7. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    He won't even be suspended for a single game. Pre season. Exactly like Stoichkov broke some college kid leg.
    https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/sh...d-from-mls-for-his-leg-breaking-tackle.40755/
     
  8. ielag

    ielag Member+

    Jul 20, 2010
    Sorry, you might be the only person in the world that rates Real over Sands.
     
  9. gunnerfan7

    gunnerfan7 Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Jul 22, 2012
    Santa Cruz, California
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Matt Real is really quite bad. I haven't seen a ton of Sands, but I have seen Matt Real, so that's a pretty low bar.

    Do you also like Rogers and Akinola too?
     
  10. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
  11. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    I have no opinion about that but you know that Tab prefers Real to Sands, yes?
     
  12. LouisZ

    LouisZ Member+

    Oct 14, 2010
    Southern California-USA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm not saying Real is good. I'm saying Sands didn't look good to me, he may have had an off night but right now, I just don't see him being a special player.
     
  13. LouisZ

    LouisZ Member+

    Oct 14, 2010
    Southern California-USA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have no opinion of Rogers, haven't paid attention to his game. I have seen Akinola enough to say that he is a marginal player, he is fast and strong but a bit dumb with his play choices.
     
  14. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    #689 Clint Eastwood, Feb 10, 2019
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2019
    What FCD "insiders" indicate is that Roberts has an impressive toolbox, but isn't ready for first team soccer. He's only 17. He'll be with NTSC unless he's loaned out to Bayern for the second half of the season.

    What we saw yesterday in the three lineups seemed like:

    1) FCD first team
    2) FCD first team reserves (with Pedroso recovering from injury)
    3) NTSC

    Roberts and Reynolds are with that third group. Ferreira, Servania, Nelson, and Cerrillo are in that 2nd group. The first three of those are now first team reserves. Cerrillo probably drops down when the new DP Bryan Acosta is integrated into the team.

    This is what we saw from Pomykal in the first team last season. Too passive. Too much of a passenger. That's not to say he's doing badly. He fits in out there with the first team. We need to see him take the bull by the horns and be a difference maker. HIs best performance in 2018 was against Seattle. FCD was up a man. Pomykal came on and ATTACKED. We need more of it 11 v 11. He plays sometimes like he wants to be a deep lying playmaker and not a #10. Maybe Hayes just "felt it" yesterday, so he was allowed to be in a more advanced position. I don't know.

    What I will say is this. Aranguiz hasn't looked very good to me this spring. And reports from FCD "insiders" suggest the same. In fact, Buzz seems to believe that right now Hayes, Pomykal, the new DP Acosta, and even Cerrillo are ahead of him on the #8 depth chart in that 4-3-3 formation. What does that mean for Aranguiz? That means for the first team he's probably competing with Mosquera on the left wing.

    A few other comments:

    John Nelson has really impressed me so far. I didn't realize that he was so versatile. He can play all along the backline. He's like a more athletic Zach Loyd! This is fantastic news for everybody other than Bryan Reynolds. As of this moment, I'd say Reynolds is going to be NTSC all season. That's not horrible. He's never played a professional game. He MIGHT get into the 18 when and if Cannon is out with the national team. I'm not even sure of that. But now he's competing for a bench spot with four guys all of whom are much more versatile than him. Nelson, Bressan, Moises Hernandez, and Ryan Hollingshead.

    Ferreira seems to be #3 on the depth chart at the #9 position. Both Badji and the new Cobra seem ahead of him. That means he's gonna have to find playing time when he can. And probably out on the wing like he was yesterday. He's nowhere near as good there as at the #9 position. But neither Badji or Cobra are the second coming of Josef Martinez. There are going to be opportunities throughout the season. He's a first team player. This year he'll kinda be taking Tesho''s spot (who got 700 minutes last season across all competitions).

    Servania seems to be Grueso's backup at the #6 position. Pareja seemed to be targeting more of a #8 role for Brandon, but Luchi has moved him to the #6. I'm really interested to see how he progresses there.

    FCD reporters seem to be falling increasingly in love with the U17 playmaker David Rodriguez. Notice the he came on for the last bit of this game. Not Redzic or Sealy or any of those cats that have higher profiles amongst USYNT watchers. David Rodriguez. He's gotten a look with USYNTs, but not in an extended manner. They were all a twitter when he came in to play next to Thomas Roberts yesterday. Possibly a name to remember.
     
  15. ShaftBrewer

    ShaftBrewer Member+

    Jul 18, 2017
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I made an all-touches video of James Sands' games against AIK and FC Copenhagen:

     
  16. ShaftBrewer

    ShaftBrewer Member+

    Jul 18, 2017
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    ussoccer97531 repped this.
  17. Peretz48

    Peretz48 Member+

    Nov 9, 2003
    Los Angeles
    Check out @julian__araujo’s Tweet:

    Was there a signing, or does he mean that playing against TFC constitutes "professional" play? Stay tuned...
     
  18. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If the league was really into it they could punish in various ways like reducing GAM, TAM, SPAM (I think that's what FCD spends to get their underwhelming CF's). Take away draft picks, fines. Be interesting to see of they care. I think MLS will keep adding teams and eventually have an MLS II. At that point they will have the soccer nerds promotion relegation and teams that don't have academies will drop down to II and may never come back.
     
  19. Smithsoccer1721

    Smithsoccer1721 Member+

    Feb 16, 2007
    Middle of the Table
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As we learned with the Crew situation that the “owners” are just operators and the league owns the teams and the “owners” own the league. They aren’t going to force sells because they don’t want those tables turned on them.
     
  20. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    I thought the same thing. I'm not sure, but I suspect that he's not yet signed. I think there would be an announcement in the media about it, if he actually signed.
     
  21. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    Is Akanyirige still injured?
     
  22. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    I watched the NYCFC game. I thought all three of Parks, Sands and Scally looked good or better.

    Parks was the best of the three. He was everywhere on the field. Much better defensive contributions than the last preseason match. He has a tendency to look slow and lazy, but not in this game. His motor was very high in this game, and he was excellent. The possession and creative side of the game is something he shows often (and he did in this appearance). If he can put in that type of defensive contribution more often, he'll be a regular in the NT.

    Sands was playing LCB, and while I don't think its his best position, he can fill in there. I think he's a little more of a CB than Durkin is. He tends to read the game a little better than Durkin. Sands looked like a veteran. While the other CB was all over the place and missing runs to mark, Sands was very economical in his movements, and read the game well, not ever having to drag himself around the defensive third. He had a couple of of nice interceptions, as well. The passing was composed. I still question his aerial ability at CB, which is why I like him better as a #6. He's not bad in the air or weak, but if you are putting him up against 6'2 or 6'3 CF's, he might struggle some.

    Scally also looked like a veteran. You wouldn't have any idea that he turned 16 recently. He has a very high defensive IQ. He reads the game defensively well beyond most his age do. He also excels athletically. He's a great athlete, if he's playing in his own age group or the pros. The other team was targeting him because they were being given a lot of space on that side of the field due to the lack of defensive cover Scally was getting from the RW and the right sided CM. Scally never got beat 1v1. A few times he stood the speedy winger up, and took the ball from him. His ability to play regularly in MLS at an early age reminds me of Adams. Technical side of the game limits his ceiling, but he's good enough to rack up a lot of games and minutes already.

    I think Parks has the best chance to play regular minutes. The way I see it, he'll be battling with Ofori for the starting spot. Worst case scenario, he's probably first off the bench in CM. Sands role looks like more of a utility player. He should be ahead of Torres and Rocha on the depth chart for next player to get minutes in CM (after Ring, Ofori and Rocha), but it doesn't seem clear that he is. He's been used some at CB in preseason. I figure he's fifth on the CB depth chart (after Callens, Chanot, Ibeagha, Sweat/Matarrita). I don't see any competition in Scally's way to be Tinnerholm's back up, but it also doesn't appear like they want to let him compete with Tinnerholm for starters minutes.
     
  23. WheezingUSASupport

    Dortmund
    United States
    Aug 28, 2017
    Nice thourough analysis. I was almost always rooting against NYCFC last season because of their lack of potential USMNT players getting minutes.

    To think of Parks at DM, or CM, Lewis at LW, and Scally or Sands coming off the bench sounds like a team I want to root for.
     
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  24. kba4life1

    kba4life1 Member+

    Jul 14, 2010
    Irvine, CA
    Rumors of NYCFC signing another winger, Lewis needs to GTFO
     
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  25. ielag

    ielag Member+

    Jul 20, 2010
    Bello and Robinson started for pretty much a 1st choice Atlanta team vs. LAFC.

    Sounds like Robinson is in line to be a weekly starter this season. Which will be big for our U23 team.
     

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